1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a vehicle interior assembly and more specifically to a vehicle interior assembly that includes airbags and a method of forming thereof.
2. Related Art
As more and more manufacturers strive to enhance the interior design of vehicles to differentiate their products, one such differentiation has been the removal of visible airbag seams from the vehicle interior assemblies such as the dashboard. Manufacturers have been trying to produce a class A interior surfaces on vehicle dashboards that is free of visible airbag lines, seams or any other markers that denotes the location of the airbag. Even though the class A surface may originally be formed without seams, many times unintentional seams around the drop-in chute including a cover over the airbag assembly result over time.
To eliminate many of these previously intended seams as well as unintended visible seams in soft instrument panels, manufacturers have developed two basic techniques. The first technique is to place the drop-in chute into an opening in the substrate of the vehicle interior assembly and then apply urethane foam between the assembly and the class A visible skin. One cause of unintended lines on the class A surface is the movement of the cover relative to the substrate, and these lines typically occur unless at least 6 mm foam-in-place skin on a class A surface is provided. The second method is to securely and permanently affix a cover over the airbag from movement relative to the substrate before applying a thinner class A surface. In the second method the cover is typically securely vibration welded or adhered to the substrate, and then a less than 5 mm by bilaminate material may be applied.
Each of the above methods provides a suitable method for ensuring against unintended lines or other visible markers showing where the airbag cover of the drop-in chute is located relative to the substrate. However, each of the above methods is relatively expensive and time consuming. More specifically, in the first method, the typical 6-8 mm foam-in-place class A surface requires additional material as well as the foam-in-place process. In regards to the second method, it requires a vibration weld process or other method of bonding or adhering the drop-in chute semi-permanently to the substrate. These vibration weldings as well as adhesion or bonding processes are time consuming and raise the manufacturing costs of the end assembly.
In view of the above, Applicants have developed a more cost-effective manufacturing process that uses less material and reduces the manufacturing time.